After a long back and forth Hamburg were <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>finally able to seal the deal with Ekdal, who has put pen to paper on a four-year deal until June 2019, reports Xinhua.

“We want to integrate Albin as soon as possible. He is a strong player who staged good performances with the Swedish <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>national team. He played the last seven years in Italy, that is, he is tactically skilled,” Hamburg’ s coach Bruno Labbadia said.

The 25-year-old new has played four seasons at <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>Cagliari Calcio and made overall 115 appearances. Ekdal is since 2011 part of Sweden’ s <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>national soccer team and made 17 caps ever since.

“I am happy that the transfer <strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’>finally worked out. I am looking forward to play for the HSV and in the Bundesliga,” he said.

Hamburg see title holders and German record champions Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga season opener on August 14.